


Hiking for the Heart - One Shot

by calliopemoonbeam



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Fluff, Hiking, Jaime and Claire, Jaime x Claire, One Shot, jaime and claire meet hiking, outlander fanfic, outlander fanfiction, outlander fic, outlander one shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 04:43:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16866358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calliopemoonbeam/pseuds/calliopemoonbeam
Summary: A little brain bunny where Jaime and Claire meet hiking. Jaime is the guide, Claire is the patron.





	Hiking for the Heart - One Shot

**Author's Note:**

> A/N - I sat down to finish up This Life and write Chapter 4 of Izzy’s Place but this bit of fluff came out first. It’s like I had to open the valve and let some air out before I got down to business. No idea what this is but I decided to post it anyways. All fluff though. It’s been that kind of week.

_———————————–_

Claire stood on the peak of Ben Lomond surveying the nature she had greatly missed. Her childhood was awash in memories of walking sand dunes, rolling hills, the occasional jagged mountain and climbing trees, but years of medical school and residency had replaced her time outside. She was finally free to reconnect, she was finding her way back to herself.

 

Her leave of absence from the hospital had only just started but she knew standing at the summit that it was the right choice. It was her true calling, there was no denying that but in the past year, at the age of 35, she started to feel a nagging call to reassess her life. Her marriage had dissolved, she felt herself spending more and more time on administration as she climbed the ranks and anxiety about her life choices had steadily increased.

 

“Claire, I think it’s time we head back, the weather is shifting,” Jaime said breaking her contemplation.

 

——————————–

 

Owing to her being out of practice in the hiking department she had booked a guided group hike. Except, she was the only one who showed up just before sunrise at the meeting point. At first the idea of being guided by a sizable ginger man, alone, for seven miles was a little off putting but Jaime quickly put her at ease. There was something grounding and kind about him. She spent the first hour of the hike, as the sun rose,  wondering if it was a show he put on when guiding people up and down munros. He seemed to good to be true.

 

Once the sun made its presence known above the horizon she realized just how good looking the guide was. She kept having to avert her eyes when she realized she was examining the entirety of his backside a little too intently. From heels to the back of his head, he was breathtaking. Each step he took seemed to pull her to him, not because she was trying to keep up, but more like there was this invisible cord between them that shortened with each step.  The easy bit of conversation that passed between them caused the cord to grow stronger. The conversation in her head got a little too loud for her taste and she willed it to stop as they ascended further up the munro.  

 

The more they walked, the more easily her words came. It was always that way. Things spilled out when she was connected to the earth. They came to rest at a lookout point and she became acutely aware of how much she had shared once they stopped and he turned to look at her with deep compassion in his eyes.

 

“I’m so sorry, I can’t believe I just told you all of that. You must think I’m daft sharing with a stranger.”

 

“Yer no a stranger anymore,” he said gallantly with a smile. “Plus I like learning about ye.”

 

“Oh…” she stammered back. Is he flirting with me, she thought a little taken aback.

 

They started out again, still a bit shy from how much vulnerability she had shown with this complete stranger she became silent.  As if reading her mind, he began telling her about himself. She relaxed and was grateful he picked up the baton.

 

He himself was divorced, highland born and bred, runs the family business (he didn’t say what kind of business), and lived to be outdoors. He guided hiking tours as much as he could given his work. It was his outlet he said, his stress relief and it his desire to meet interesting people…like her, he had said.

 

Ok, now she knew he was flirting with her. It was subtle but it was there and the energy between them intensified. The conversation from there flowed easily and they found they had many other things in common besides the love of the outdoors and unhappy past marriages - avocado toast, misty mornings, a love of reading, history, whisky, deep intimate friendships, parents that had passed on, and the list went on. But above all they shared a deep and abiding love for Scotland. It made sense for him, it being his  birth country but she was English. Scotland has always felt like home she whispered to him.

 

He wanted to reach back and grab her hand when she said that but he admonished his brain and willed himself to stay “professional” even though that line was clearly in his rear-view mirror.

 

When they reached the top, they had a little picnic, part of the “tour package.” The picnic allowed them to be face to face in a way they hadn’t been while hiking. The ability to have eye contact while talking was revelation for Claire and she could see in his eyes it was for him too. Unconsciously they were drawing nearer to each other while they ate, joked and got to know each other better.

 

Claire took out her elastic letting her curls wild for a minute before swooping them back up and resetting them into a bun on top of her head. “Yer so lovely Claire.” He blurted out. She looked at him and quickly looked back down at the picnic, whispering “thank you.” He could see her blush and tentativeness at his comment, he winced internally, and immediately started to overcompensate realizing he overstepped.

 

“I’ll clean up, why don’t you go have a look around,” he said now clearly embarrassed and self-protective, but also realizing she probably needed time alone. She quickly stood, gave him a faint smile and walked away to admire the view. He internally berated himself for clearly messing up what was a lovely, freeing day, by letting his easily accessible emotions out in that moment. But he couldn’t help it, he’d never met anyone like her. He knew he had to figure out a way to extend this day and get her to have dinner with him. His thoughts drifted as he cleaned up and then sat for awhile watching the clouds.

 

The weather started to turn and the crowds they had left so early to avoid started to arrive. He sought her out and stood for a moment just watching her, clearly lost in her own thoughts. Jaime admired her for a few minutes before speaking. His father always said he would “just ken” when he met the woman he was supposed to be with and even though he had been married, he never knew what his father had meant, until now, here on the top of Ben Lomond, staring at the complex, intelligent, obviously kind, beautiful woman before him. He had never believe in love at first sight, but arriving at the meet up point earlier that morning, his beliefs had changed in an instant. With each word out of her mouth, each glance at him, every joke she had cracked made him more sure than he had been the previous breath. He was done for.

 

“Claire, I think it’s time we head back, the weather is shifting,” Jaime said breaking her contemplation.

 

Awoken from her thoughts, Claire turned to look at him, and REALLY looked at him. His heart was soup, sloshing around in his chest. Her gaze melting his insides.

 

“Ok, then,” she finally said.

 

“I ken a different way down. It might be a bit longer, but t’is beautiful and I think we can still make it before the weather breaks,” he assured her.

 

Claire stepped toward him, looked up into his sky blue eyes, reached for his hand, interlaced their fingers, turned their hands to kiss the back of his hand.

 

“If it means I can spend more time with you, I’d stay on this mountain forever.”

 

—————————————

 

_Thanks for reading whatever the hell that was!_


End file.
